A blog devoted to Montessori education with a little bit of this and that thrown in.

September 02, 2010

The long-awaited suction cup pad post :-)

OK, I promised and now I'm going to deliver. Probably the most frequently asked question I get is where to find the suction cup mats I use in my classroom in the Practical Life area. All the ones I use were here when I acquired the classroom. I have since realized that they are not easy to find. I use the larger ones for transferring marbles with tongs..........the kids LOVE to do this work. I use the smaller ones for transferring drops of water and for transferring beads with tweezers, two more VERY popular activities.

Following are the resources I've come up with either through my own Googling or via readers who have written me.

I hope this helps many of you in your quest to find these little pads. Once you acquire one, guard it with your life. You will love using it in a variety of ways and who knows when you'll be able to get your hands on another one!

If you know of any other sources not mentioned here, please comment and, if possible, leave a link within the text of your comment. Thanks SO much!

i got dinosaurs somewhere last year, maybe kmart? they were in the bath section. i think there were 10 or 12. i just use them at home with my two boys so sure don't need that many. if anyone else got a bulk package of something else and would like to swap a few so we can get more variety, i would love to do that. also laura if you don't have dinos, i would send you a couple for all you do on this blog!

What I have found is easiest to do is to buy a bathmat from Target or any other store with appropriate sized suction cups, and just trace and cut out the shape that I want! This works for any unit we are currently studying! Using a razor helps to add other details to it such as a small hole.

I found my butterfly ones at the Dollar Tree in January. They also had dinosaurs. I got I think like ten of them in a package. I just wish I could find different shaped and colored ones but I haven't looked around lately.

Thanks so much for your wonderful web-site - I am inspired every time I read a new post. I am not a Montessori teacher but am trying to incorporate a few of your ideas very successfully.I live and teach in Australia and sourced some cute little suction cup hands from this on-line web store called Urban Baby. I only received them last week but have had great success with my 4yr old class doing a bead transfer - can't wait to try water next - and the other teachers at my preschool asked to use them with their classes too.

I found a set of suction cup things through Appleseed Educational Products. This was a couple of years ago. It came with a duck, leaf, teddy bear, and fish. I tried searching for the website, but I didn't have any luck :( Thanks for the info on where to find the round one! I have been looking for years!

Hello, I have found various sizes and shapes at my local bed and bath stores. I am in Victoria, BC, and found stars, circles, flowers, seals, etc at Home Outfitters, Home Sense, Heirloom Linens, and also at the dollar stores. They are all non-slip pads for the bath tub. Just look in the bath sections of your local home stores. I also found some at a specialty baby store (Jam Tots, TJ's) in the bath section. The children never get tired of these activities!
Julie
Discovery Montessori